Bare granite islands 27 miles off San Francisco carrying the largest seabird colony in the contiguous United States, elephant…Bare granite islands 27 miles off San Francisco carrying the largest seabird colony in the contiguous United States, elephant seals and sea lions hauled out in thousands, and one of the world's densest autumn concentrations of white sharks working the colonies from below. Sealed and egged nearly bare in the nineteenth century, when San Francisco ate Farallon murre eggs by the hundred thousand, then lit and manned, then protected as a refuge in 1969. The seabirds and the seals came back, and the sharks came back with them. Anchorage: No anchorage worth the name. This is a long day trip from San Francisco Bay in a settled autumn spell, and there is nowhere to hide if it turns. Hazards: Big swell, thick fog, and strong current over a shallow shelf. Diving here is not a recreational activity, and getting in the water is not the point. Landing is illegal. More